“Le Grand is such a beautiful room, and we really thought we were going to be the team that could make that space work,” said Thompson, who opened the restaurant in the venerable Baur Building at 1512 Curtis St. in 2011.

“When I saw the place, it just screamed ‘brasserie’ to me,” he said. “That’s my favorite type of restaurant concept. I’m just not sure the rest of the world agrees.”

Closing Le Grand will allow Thompson to concentrate on Argyll Whisky Beer, a new incarnation of the popular gastropub he ran in Cherry Creek. Argyll opens June 7 in the former Las Margaritas space at 1035 E. 17th Ave., which is being remodeled.

Argyll will join a hot restaurant scene in the Uptown neighborhood. Beast + Bottle, Olive & Finch and Humboldt have all opened in recent months, alongside longer-standing places such as Steuben’s, Ace, Avenue Grill and P17.

Thompson is a busy man. Beyond Argyll, his company, Seasoned Development, has The Griffin, due to open this fall on Brighton Boulevard, and expansions across the country for Punch Bowl Social, the cavernous restaurant and bar Thompson operates at 65 Broadway.

Punch Bowl Social plans openings in Detroit and Austin this year, and in Chicago, Seattle and perhaps two other markets in 2015

“One day I woke up and said, ‘Good grief, I have four restaurants opening this year — what was I thinking?’ ” Thompson said with a laugh.

Thompson opened Le Grand Bistro in the street-level space once occupied by Baur’s, a popular spot in mid-century Denver where teenagers stopped for after-school malts and their parents for nights on the town.

The three-story building, which began as a candy store and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1881. Original owner Otto Baur was said to have poured the first ice-cream soda.

It was a short walk from the restaurant to the Denver Performing Arts Complex. But the location, which on paper looked like a slam dunk, proved problematic.

“The restaurant crowds come and go depending on how the shows are doing,” Thompson said.

Le Grand Bistro opened in August 2011, moving in after Baur’s Ristorante, a successor to the original room, closed. Thompson made his name on the Denver culinary scene eight years years earlier with Brasserie Rouge, a lauded French restaurant that operated at 1801 Wynkoop St.

No word yet on what will replace the restaurant in the Bauer Building.

William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp

Restaurant critic William Porter is a feature writer at The Denver Post, where he covers food, culture and people. He joined the news outlet in 1997. Before that, he spent 14 years covering politics and popular culture at The Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic. He is a native of North Carolina.

The Larimer County coroner on Sunday performed an autopsy on the body found on a farm just east of Loveland Saturday, but the office will not release the cause of death or the identity of the person until they can track down next of kin.